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I:  OPPOSING  THE  ABOLITION  OR  CUR-  ' 
TAILMENT  OF  THE  PNEUMATIC 
TUBE  MAIL  SERVICE  IN  ANY  CITY 
WHERE  IT  NOW  EXISTS. 

II:  LETTER  FROM  HON.  JOHN  PURROY 
MITCHEL,  MAYOR  OF  NEW  YORK,  TO 
HON.  CHAMP  CLARK,  SPEAKER  OF 
THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
PROTESTING  AGAINST  ADDITIONAL 
MAIL  TRUCKS  IN  THE  CITY’S 
STREETS. 


December,  1916 


THE  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Merchants’*  Association  of 
New  York,  at  a  meeting  held  Thursday,  December  14, 
received  a  report  from  its  Committee  on  Postal  Affairs  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Committee  that 
the  discontinuance  of  the  pneumatic  tube  service  and  the  sub¬ 
stitution  therefor  of  service  by  vehicle  would  be  unfortunate  and 
should  be  opposed  by  The  Merchants’  Association. 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  Association  reaffirm  its 
attitude  to  the  effect  that  the  pneumatic  mail  service  should  be 
continued  in  its  present  scope  in  all  cities  where  it  is  now  in¬ 
stalled,  and  that  it  be  extended  wherever  conditions  warrant. 

The  Board  of  Directors,  after  consideration,  unanimously  ap¬ 
proved  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee  on  Postal  Affairs 
and  directed  that  an  argument  in  opposition  to  the  recommenda¬ 
tions  of  the  Postmaster  General  as  to  the  pneumatic  tube  service 
be  prepared,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Executive  Committee 
and  the  President. 

'"'N 

The  argument  thus  authorized  follows : 

S.  C.  Mead, 
Secretary. 


New  York,  December  29,  1916. 


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OPPOSING  THE  ABOLITION  OR  CURTAIL¬ 
MENT  OF  THE  PNEUMATIC  TUBE  MAIL 
SERVICE  IN  ANY  CITY  WHERE  IT  NOW 
EXISTS. 

THE  Postmaster  General  has  recommended  to  Congress  the 
abolition  of  the  pneumatic  tube  mail  service  in  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis;  its  curtailment  in  Brook¬ 
lyn,  and  its  retention  in  New  York  under  conditions  which 
threaten  to  curtail  it  by  about  one-half,  and  which  permit  its 
entire  abolition  at  the  discretion  of  the  Postmaster  General. 

The  recommendations  of  the  Postmaster  General  are  based 
upon  a  report  of  a  committee  of  subordinate  postal  officials,  which 
report  embodies  the  results  of  an  investigation  made  by  the  com¬ 
mittee  as  to  the  relative  efficiency  of  auto  vehicles  and  pneumatic 
tubes  for  the  transmission  of  letter  mail.  Those  results  seem¬ 
ingly  demonstrate  that  autos  equal  tubes  in  efficiency  and  that  the 
substitution  of  autos  for  tubes  would  effect  material  economies 
without  impairing  the  mail  service. 

This  would  be  true  if  the  facts  stated  in  the  report  compre¬ 
hended  all  the  facts,  and  if  the  methods  used  in  the  investigation 
had  been  such  as  fully  to  develop  and  fairly  to  present  those 
facts;  but  such  is  not  the  case.  In  the  investigation  vital  factors 
were  ignored  or  suppressed.  By  reason  of  their  suppression 
false  inferences  were  suggested,  leading  to  fallacious  conclusions. 
The  utility  of  the  tubes  was  minimized,  and  the  practicable  per¬ 
formance  of  autos  under  service  conditions  was  grossly  exag¬ 
gerated.  The  methods  of  the  investigation,  its  omission  to  de¬ 
velop  and  present  essential  facts,  the  questionable  character  of 
the  so-called  tests,  and  the  fallacy  of  the  conclusions  inevitable 


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from  an  incomplete  array  of  facts,  were  such  as  to  render  mis¬ 
leading  and  practically  worthless  the  report  upon  which  rest  the 
recommendations  of  the  Postmaster  General. 

Following  are  specifications : 

1.  The  automobile  tests  were  made  under  highly  favorable 
selected  conditions  of  minimum  traffic  congestion,  and  entire 
absence  of  obstruction  by  ice  and  snow. 

2.  The  usual  and  necessary  service  routes,  time  schedules 
and  requirements  were  disregarded. 

3.  Excessive  and  dangerous  speed  was  made  through 
crowded  city  streets. 

4.  The  results  of  the  speed  tests  made  under  exceptional 

and  selected  conditions  were  accepted  as  representing  the  ** 
practicable  speed  of  autos  throughout  the  year,  under  service 
conditions  subject  to  wide  variation. 

5.  The  rapidity  and  capacity  of  the  tubes  was  under¬ 
stated.  On  one  occasion  the  operation  of  the  tubes  was 
retarded. 

6.  Two  of  the  most  important  and  useful  functions  of  the 
tube  service  were  ignored  by  the  report. 


I.  THE  AUTOMOBILE  TESTS  WERE  MADE  UNDER 
HIGHLY  FAVORABLE  SELECTED  CONDITIONS 
OF  MINIMUM  TRAFFIC  CONGESTION  AND  EN¬ 
TIRE  ABSENCE  OF  OBSTRUCTION  BY  ICE  AND 
SNOW. 

Tests  of  the  relative  speed  of  autos  and  tubes  in  the  transmis¬ 
sion  of  mail  were  made  in  the  several  cities  having  tube  service, 
with  the  exception  of  New  York.  All  these  tests,  with  three  ex- 


4 


ceptions,  were  made  in  the  months  of  July  and  August.  The 
exceptions  were  made  June  28  and  29  in  Boston. 

The  speed  at  which  vehicles  can  move  through  city  streets  is, 
of  course,  materially  affected  by  the  extent  of  the  traffic  therein. 
In  all  the  large  cities  the  traffic  congestion  in  the  business  centers 
is  extreme,  and  creates  a  condition  exceedingly  unfavorable  to 
the  rapid  movement  of  vehicles.  In  the  City  of  New  York  traffic 
counts  were  recently  made  during  the  months  of  maximum  con¬ 
gestion.  It  was  found  that  at  the  464  crossings  where  police 
officers  are  stationed  to  regulate  traffic  an  aggregate  of  about 
3,407,000  vehicles  and  15,545,000  pedestrians  crossed  within  ten 
hours.  The  traffic  at  Columbus  Circle  (one  mile  north  of  42nd 
Street)  aggregated  39,000  vehicles  and  81,990  pedestrians  in  ten 
consecutive  hours.  Similar  conditions  of  extreme  congestion 
prevail  in  the  Chicago  “loop  district”  and  in  the  central  areas  of 
Boston,  Philadelphia  and  St.  Louis. 

But  the  density  of  the  congestion  varies  widely  at  different 
seasons.  In  the  months  of  July  and  August  it  is  at  a  minimum. 
During  those  months  shipments  of  merchandise  fall  off  greatly. 
Retail  trade  of  many  classes  is  at  its  lowest  ebb,  and  the  move¬ 
ment  of  delivery  wagons  is  much  reduced.  A  large  proportion  of 
pleasure  or  passenger  autos  are  absent  in  country  districts.  These 
causes  greatly  reduce  the  volume  of  street  traffic,  and  correspond¬ 
ingly  increase  the  practicable  speed. 

In  his  testimony  on  this  point  before  the  House  Committee  on 
Post  Offices  and  Post  Roads,  Inspector  Thomas  Myers,  the  police 
officer  in  charge  of  traffic  regulation  in  New  Y'ork,  stated  that 
street  traffic  and  consequent  congestion  falls  off  about  50  per  cent 
during  the  months  of  July  and  August.  Similar  causes  produce 
a  similar  falling  off  in  other  cities. 

It  is  obvious  that  speed  results  obtained  in  the  months  when 
about  one-half  the  usual  number  of  vehicles  are  absent  from  the 
streets  do  not  fairly  represent  the  speed  practicable  during  the 
remainder  of  the  year. 

It  is  a  fact  of  common  knowledge  that  city  streets  during  a 
considerable  part  of  every  winter  are  badly  obstructed  by  snow 


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and  ice.  So  far  as  revealed  by  their  report,  this  fact  seemed  to 
be  unknown  to  the  committee  of  post  office  employees.  At  any 
rate,  no  cognizance  was  taken  of  it. 

The  extent  to  which  snow  slows  the  movement  of  autos  and 
disarranges  mail  movement  was  testified  to  December  14th  be¬ 
fore  the  House  Committee  on  Post  Offices  and  Post  Roads  by 
Mr.  Edward  M.  Morgan,  Postmaster  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Morgan  stated  in  substance  that  during  a  considerable  part 
of  last  winter,  because  of  snow,  it  was  necessary  in  order  to 
make  train  connections  to  allow  autos  as  much  as  thirty  minutes’ 
extra  running  time — thus  more  than  doubling  the  usual  time. 
Mr.  Morgan  specified : 

December  13,  14,  15,  16  and  17,  1915. 

February  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  13,  14,  15,  16  and  17,  1916. 

March  2,  3,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  15,  16  and  17,  1916. 

as  days  when  transportation  was  seriously  interrupted  by  reason 
of  storms,  and  the  mail  contractor  was  unable  to  meet  the  re¬ 
quirements  of  the  service  and  live  up  to  the  existing  schedules. 
The  effect  of  these  conditions  is  shown  by  the  following  quota¬ 
tions  from  the  records  of  the  hearing: 

“Mr.  Morgan  :  .  .  .  The  number  of  train  connections  missed 
and  consequent  delay  to  mails  during  December,  1915,  and  Janu¬ 
ary,  February  and  March,  1916,  due  to  irregularities  in  mail 
wagon  (auto)  service  occasioned  by  snow  storms  and  resultant 
congested  and  slipper}’-  streets,  was  as  follows : 


December,  1915  .  30 

January,  1916  .  8 

February,  1916 .  51 

March,  1916  .  120 


Total .  209” 


“The  Chairman:  They  missed  the  trains?” 

“Mr.  Morgan  :  Yes,  sir,  notwithstanding  they  were  given 
thirty  minutes  headway.” 


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“Mr.  Bennet:  You  mean  you  start  the  mails  several  minutes 
earlier?” 

“Mr.  Morgan  :  Yes.” 

“Mr.  Bennet:  How  many — how  long  a  time?” 

“Mr.  Morgan  :  Usually  about  thirty  minutes.  For  example, 
if  we  have  to  make  a  connection  and  our  regular  schedule  is 
2:30,  we  start  the  wagon  out  at  2  o’clock;  and  if  we  have  to 
make  a  connection,  the  regular  schedule  being  4  o’clock,  we  start 
the  wagon  out  at  half-past  three.” 

The  extent  to  which  snow  and  ice  obstructed  the  movement  of 
mail  vehicles  in  other  cities  is  undoubtedly  a  matter  of  record  * 
in  the  several  post  offices.  It  is  a  vital  factor  in  determining 
the  relative  utility  of  autos  and  tubes.  The  Committee  could 
readily  have  obtained  the  information.  So  far  as  the  record 
shows  they  made  no  attempt  to  do  so,  but  completely  ignored  it. 


II.  THE  USUAL  AND  NECESSARY  SERVICE  ROUTES, 
TIME  SCHEDULES  AND  SERVICE  REQUIRE¬ 
MENTS  WERE  DISREGARDED. 

The  time  normally  required  for  mail  vehicles  to  move  between 
post  offices  and  railroad  stations,  and  from  one  branch  office  to 
another,  is  definitely  and  completely  established  as  to  every  im¬ 
portant  office.  The  extent  of  that  time  is  absolutely  and  conclu¬ 
sively  demonstrated  by  daily  and  hourly  experience,  continued 
through  every  day  in  the  year.  As  a  result  of  this  experience 
official  time  schedules  are  established.  These  schedules  govern 
the  movement  of  all  mail  vehicles. 

The  time  allowed  is  that  normally  consumed  by  the  vehicles  in 
passing  over  their  .routes.  It  considers  delays  and  interruptions 
to  movement,  occasioned  by  traffic  congestion.  It  makes  allow¬ 
ances  for  time  consumed  by  stops  made  at  intervening  stations 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  and  delivering  mail. 

The  time  allowance  is  governed  by  two  imperative  factors. 


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The  vehicle  must  remain  at  the  post  office  until  the  latest  possible 
moment  in  order  to  permit  it  to  carry  the  latest  mails  received. 
The  time  allowed  for  movement  to  its  destination  must  be  as 
short  as  is  practicable  to  assure  its  arrival  at  the  station  in  time 
to  catch  the  connecting  train.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  in 
every  post  office  having  a  capable  administration  the  time  allowed 
for  the  movement  of  vehicles  is  the  shortest  time  that  it  is  safe 
to  allow,  as  demonstrated  by  continuous  experience. 

In  addition  to  the  normal  time  allowance  is  the  extraordinary 
allowance  made  necessary  in  winter  by  reason  of  snow  and  ice. 
Postmaster  Morgan  has  testified  that  under  frequently  prevailing 
winter  conditions  more  than  twice  the  usual  time  is  required. 
We  have  thus  in  the  records  of  every  post  office  absolute  stand¬ 
ards,  derived  from  experience  of  actual  service  conditions,  as  to 
the  performance  of  auto  vehicles  which  may  safely  be  relied  upon. 

The  difference  between  these  standards  and  the  results  of  the 
so-called  tests  made  in  Chicago  and  Boston  are  so  great  as  to 
bring  the  methods  of  the  latter  into  question.  Mail  is  daily 
transported  by  automobile  from  the  Boston  General  Post  Office 
to  Upham’s  Corners  over  a  route  which  is  4.4  miles  long.  Mail 
passing  over  this  route  goes  first  to  the  South  Terminal  Station, 
where  it  is  transferred  to  another  vehicle.  It  thence  moves  by 
way  of  the  South  Boston  Station  to  Upham’s  Corners.  The 
vehicle  stops  at  each  of  the  stations  named.  At  the  South  Termi¬ 
nal  the  pouches  are  rehandled  and  separated  for  forwarding  to 
different  destinations  by  various  routes.  This  process  requires 
five  minutes  or  more.  An  intervening  stop  is  made  at  South  Bos¬ 
ton,  where  mails  are  received  and  delivered.  The  record  of 


movement  and  distances  is  as  follows : 

General  Post  Office  to  South  Terminal 
South  Terminal  to  South  Boston.... 
South  Boston  to  Upham’s  Corners.. 


Official  time 

Distance  including  stops 
3/4  miles  15  mm. 

1  2/5  miles  15  min. 

2  1/4  miles  15  min. 


Total . .  4.4  miles  45  min. 

Average  miles  per  hour  under  service  conditions,  5.86. 


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In  the  auto  test  that  was  made  between  the  General  Post  Office 
and  Uphanrs  Corners,  the  route  followed  was  not  stated.  If  the 
auto  proceeded  via  Roxbury  the  distance  covered  would  be  5 
miles.  If  it  proceeded  via  South  Boston  the  distance  would  be 
4.4  miles.  The  time  occupied  was  13  minutes,  50  seconds.  In 
the  first  case,  via  Roxbury,  the  rate  of  speed  per  hour  would 
have  been  over  21  miles.  In  the  second  case,  via  South  Boston, 
the  rate  per  hour  would  have  been  over  19  miles. 

This  result  was  obviously  obtained  by  ignoring  all  the  service 
conditions.  An  average  rate  of  speed  more  than  three  times  that 
found  possible  under  service  conditions  was  made.  It  was  in 
part  made  by  omitting  the  stops  required  in  the  actual  mail 
service,  thereby  saving  the  several  minutes  required  to  make  each 
of  those  stops  and  take  and  deliver  the  mail.  It  was  made  by 
sending  the  auto  over  portions  of  the  route  at  a  rate  of  approxi¬ 
mately  30  miles  per  hour  (making  allowance  for  the  inevitable 
detention  in  the  area  of  great  congestion). 

Similar  disregard  of  service  conditions  appears  in  the  so-called 

tests  made  in  the  central  area  of  Boston.  The  official  time  shown 

% 

by  experience  to  be  necessary  under  service  conditions  for  an 
auto  to  move  from  the  General  Post  Office  to  the  South  Station 
and  insure  train  connections  is  10  minutes.  The  auto  made  the 
distance  in  3  minutes,  40  seconds.  The  official  time  from  the 
Boston  Post  Office  to  the  North  Station  is  12  minutes.  The  test 
auto  made  the  distance  in  5  minutes,  5  seconds.  These  figures 
show  the  extent  to  which  the  relative  absence  of  traffic  conges¬ 
tion  during  the  months  of  July  and  August  influenced  the  result. 

On  the  one  hand,  we  have  the  time  schedules  based  upon  long 
and  continuous  experience,  established  with  due  regard  to  traffic 
obstacles  and  to  service  stops.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  single 
tests  made  regardless  of  service  conditions,  with  the  obstacles  of 
traffic  congestion  largely  eliminated,  omitting  the  time  required 
for  stops  at  intermediate  stations,  and  carried  on  at  an  unlawful 
and  highly  dangerous  rate  of  speed. 

Similar  conditions  obtained  in  the  case  of  the  Chicago  tests. 
The  official  time  upon  which  autos  are  daily  moving  between  the 


9 


General  Post  Office  and  the  stockyards,  with  one  stop,  is  52 
minutes,  the  rate  of  speed  per  hour  being  6.92  miles.  In  the  so- 
called  auto  test  the  distance  was  made  in  17  minutes,  the  service 
stop  required  in  actual  service  being  omitted.  The  average  rate 
of  speed  was  over  21  miles  an  hour,  probably  reaching  30  miles 
an  hour  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  course. 

The  Postmaster  General  assumes  that  the  results  of  these  tests 
indicate  the  regular  and  normal  speed  of  the  service  which  can 
be  provided  by  automobiles.  If  that  be  true,  the  administrative 
officials  of  the  principal  post  offices  in  the  United  States  are  con¬ 
victed  of  gross  incompetency,  for  consuming  in  actual  service 
more  than  three  times  the  time  which  the  Postmaster  General 
appears  to  believe  a  reasonable  and  practicable  time. 


III.  EXCESSIVE  AND  DANGEROUS  SPEED  WAS  MADE 
THROUGH  CROWDED  CITY  STREETS. 

It  has  been  shown  above  that  the  regular  time  schedules  im¬ 
posed  by  contract  upon  the  mail  service  in  the  several  cities  con¬ 
templates  a  rate  of  speed  limited  by  the  congestion  of  city  streets, 
speed  laws,  traffic  regulations,  and  similar  obstructive  conditions. 

The  public  of  every  large  city  is  in  a  state  of  violent  indigna¬ 
tion  and  alarm  because  of  the  dangerous  conditions  arising  from 
the  rapid  movement  of  automobiles  in  crowded  city  streets.  The 
fatalities  and  accidents  from  this  cause  are  numerous.  In  the 
City  of  New  York  one  person  is  killed  every  fourteen  hours,  and 
one  person  is  injured  every  twenty-three  minutes.  The  problem 
of  preventing  undue  speed,  of  protecting  life,  and  of  dealing  with 
traffic  congestion  is  one  of  the  most  pressing  with  which  city  of¬ 
ficials  everywhere  are  confronted. 

In  response  to  public  demand  and  in  the  interest  of  public 
safety,  laws  limiting  the  speed  of  vehicles  have  everywhere  been 
adopted.  “Safety  First"  is  the  universal  cry.. 

In  defiance  of  an  earnest  and  reasonable  public  sentiment,  we 


10 


find  the  agents  of  the  United  States  actively  promoting  highly 
dangerous  conditions.  We  find  the  Postmaster  General  of  the 
United  States  seriously  proposing  that  those  dangerous  condi¬ 
tions  shall  be  made  the  regular  and  daily  conditions  for  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  mail  vehicles — that  those  vehicles  shall  regularly  and 
habitually  traverse  city  streets  with  reckless  disregard  of  human 
life  and  safety,  and  shall  ignore  and  over-ride  the  laws  and  regu¬ 
lations  made  necessary  for  the  public  protection. 

The  recommendation  of  the  Postmaster  General  is  based  upon 
the  assumption  that  mails  will  be  transported  through  the  streets 
by  autos  at  the  speed  shown  by  the  recent  tests.  Unless  that  speed 
is  maintained  the  present  celerity  of  mail  movement,  attained  by 
the  use  of  the  tubes,  will  be  materially  lessened.  That  speed  is 
therefore  proposed  by  the  Department. 

The  auto  speed  developed  by  the  tests,  and  accepted  by  the 
Postmaster  General  as  a  normal  standard  of  performance  was  as 
follows : 

Boston  : 

GENERAL  POST  OFFICE  TO  UPHAM's  CORNERS. 


Distance  (via  Roxbury)* . 5  miles 

Time  . 13  min.  50  sec. 

Rate  per  hour . over  21  miles 

Chicago  : 


GENERAL  POST  OFFICE  TO  STOCK  YARDS. 

Distance . over  6  miles 

Time  . 17  min. 

Rate  per  hour . over  21  miles 

In  each  of  these  tests  a  mile  or  more  of  the  dislance  was 
through  an  area  of  intense  congestion,  in  which  area  only  a  very 
slow  rate  of  progress  was  possible.  The  official  time  schedules 
of  the  Boston  Post  Office  allow  ten  minutes  for  an  auto  to 
traverse  only  a  part  of  this  congested  area.  A  similar  official 

*The  tubes  follow  the  Roxbury  route,  with  which  the  auto  tests  were  compared. 
The  regular  auto  route  to  Upham’s  Corners  is  via  South  Boston.  The  distance  via 
the  latter  route  is  4.4  miles.  If  this  route  were  taken  in  the  auto  test,  the  average 
rate  of  speed  would  have  been  slightly  more  than  19  miles  per  hour. 


11 


time  allowance  is  made  in  Chicago.  Allowing  for  inevitable  de¬ 
lays  in  these  highly  congested  districts,  a  much  higher  rate  of 
speed  than  the  average  must  have  been  maintained  over  the 
remainder  of  the  route. 

It  is  practically  certain  therefore  that  over  the  larger  part  of 
the  routes  stated  the  test  autos  must  have  been  driven  at  a  rate 
of  speed  in  excess  of  thirty  miles  per  hour,  through  densely 
populated  districts,  in  defiance  of  speed  laws,  traffic  regulations 
and  public  safety. 

In  fact,  however,  this  speed  would  not  and  could  not  be  main¬ 
tained  under  service  conditions,  for  reasons  stated  in  the  previous 
section.  But  nevertheless  it  was  advanced  by  the  post  office  com¬ 
mittee  as  though  it  were  the  normal  speed  practicable  for  mail 
autos ;  and  the  Postmaster  General  and  Congress  were  permitted 
to  infer  that  this  artificial  and  impracticable  rate  of  auto  move¬ 
ment  proved  that  the  mails  could  be  moved  as  rapidly  and  ef¬ 
ficiently  by  autos  as  by  tubes. 


IV.  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  SPEED  TESTS  MADE  UN- 
DER  EXCEPTIONAL  SELECTED  CONDITIONS 
WERE  ACCEPTED  AS  REPRESENTING  THE  PRAC¬ 
TICABLE  SPEED  OF  AUTOS  THROUGHOUT  THE 
YEAR,  UNDER  SERVICE  CONDITIONS  SUBJECT 
TO  WIDE  VARIATION. 

It  has  been  shown  above  that  the  conditions  affecting  the  speed 
of  autos  passing  through  city  streets  are  subject  to  wide  varia¬ 
tions  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  It  has  been  shown  that  the 
so-called  tests  of  auto  speed  were  made  at  a  time  when  traffic 
congestion  was  at  a  minimum  and  an  exceptionally  high  rate  of 
speed  therefore  practicable.  It  has  been  shown  that  in  the  tests 
the  usual  and  necessary  service  routes  were  disregarded,  and  that 
the  usual  and  necessary  stops  at  intermediate  stations,  involving 


12 


in  the  case  of  each  station  a  considerable  time  for  delivering  and 
receiving  mail,  were  omitted.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  actual 
service  time  established  and  shown  to  be  necessary  as  the  result 
of  continuous  experience  during  years  is  from  two  to  three  times 
that  shown  by  the  tests.  It  has  been  shown  that  when  the  streets 
are  obstructed  by  snow  and  ice  it  is  necessary  to  more  than  double 
the  usual  service  time,  and  that  even  with  such  additional  time 
many  train  connections  are  missed.  It  has  been  shown  that  ex¬ 
cessive  and  dangerous  speed  was  made  through  crowded  streets 
in  violation  of  traffic  regulations  and  speed  laws. 

It  is  obvious  that  all  the  conditions  recited  must  of  necessity 
be  considered  and  allowed  for  in  determining  the  habitual  and 
regular  speed  of  mail  autos  when  carrying  the  mails  under  service 
conditions.  It  is  equally  obvious  that  any  fair  investigation  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  practicable  speed  of  autos  in  mail 
service  would  have  given  full  consideration  to  all  these  limiting 
conditions  and  have  fully  and  candidly  stated  in  the  report  their 
effect  and  the  extent  to  which  they  should  qualify  the  conclusions. 

The  report  of  the  committee  of  postal  employees  is  silent  upon 
all  of  these  points.  Having  made  certain  tests  under  conditions 
which  excluded  nearly  all  the  most  formidable  impediments  to 
high  speed,  they  have  presented  those  results  as  though  they  were 
applicable  throughout  the  entire  year  and  as  though  they  could 
properly  be  made  the  ordinary  standard  of  auto  performance. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  report  in  question  ignored  or  sup¬ 
pressed  the  essential  facts  indispensable  to  a  true  conclusion.  It 
is  this  investigation  which  the  Postmaster  General  characterizes 
as  “thorough,”  and  upon  which,  “after  careful  consideration,” 
he  bases  his  recommendations  for  the  substitution  of  autos  for 
tubes,  on  the  assumption  that  the  former  will  provide  service 
equally  efficient  as  that  of  the  latter. 

Upon  this  evidence,  which  has  suppressed  the  essential  and 
suggested  the  untrue  and  misleading,  the  Postmaster  General 
rests  his  statement  that  the  Department  “never  at  any  time  has 
made  a  recommendation  looking  to  the  improvement  of  the  postal 
service  which  it  is  more  certain  is  just  and  meritorious  than  the 
proposed  action  with  reference  to  this  pneumatic  tube  service.” 


13 


V.  THE  RAPIDITY  AND  CAPACITY  OF  THE  TUBES 
WAS  UNDER-STATED.  ON  ONE  OCCASION  THE 
OPERATION  OF  THE  TUBES  WAS  RETARDED. 

The  capacity  of  the  tubes  is  dependent  upon  the  quantity  or 
weight  of  mail  matter  which  can  be  contained  in  each  of  the 
carriers,  and  the  frequency  with  which  such  carriers  can  be 
dispatched  through  the  tubes. 

The  report  of  the  committee  of  Post  Office  officials  alleges : 

“a.  The  capacity  of  each  tube  container  is  limited  to  about 
five  pounds  of  letter  mail  and  all  classes  of  mail  cannot  be 
carried.” 

In  the  hearings  before  the  House  Committee  on  Post  Offices 
and  Post  Roads  a  standard  carrier  was  placed  in  evidence. 
Numerous  packages  containing  envelopes  with  blank  letter  sheets 
of  different  sizes  and  thicknesses,  and  also  a  proportion  of  cards 
similar  to  postal  cards,  were  produced,  weighed  before  the  Com¬ 
mittee  and  deposited  in  the  carriers.  Ten  pounds  of  these  pack¬ 
ages  (which  were  carefully  examined  by  the  Committee  and 
admitted  to  be  fairly  representative  of  regular  mail)  were  placed 
in  the  carrier,  which  was  but  two-thirds  filled.  There  were,  how¬ 
ever,  no  long  envelopes  in  the  parcels,  but  ample  space  remained 
to  permit  the  inclusion  of  such  long  envelopes. 

The  committee’s  report  further  stated : 

“b.  Rapidity  of  despatch  of  tube  containers  is  limited  to 
intervals  of  about  15  seconds,  so  that  only  about  20  pounds 
of  letter  mail  can  be  despatched  each  minute  .  .  .” 

In  the  Boston  test  of  the  mail  carried  by  train  No.  53,  June  28, 
1916,  six  carriers  were  despatched  in  65  seconds,  making  an 
average  of  10  5/6  seconds’  interval  between  the  carriers. 

As  testified  at  the  hearing,  the  time  intervals  noted  in  the 
despatch  of  certain  mails  by  tube  in  the  Chicago  Post  Office  was 
found  to  be  less  than  ten  seconds. 


14 


In  the  New  York  Post  Office  on  August  19  between  the  hours 
of  7  and  8  o’clock  P.  M.,  838  carriers  were  despatched  from  the 
General  Post  Office,  through  a  single  line  of  tubes,  the  intervals 
between  the  despatches  being  about  4%.  seconds. 

In  view  of  these  well-established  results,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
committee's  statement  that  only  about  twenty  pounds  of  letter 
mail  can  be  despatched  each  minute  is  incorrect.  The  facts  cited, 
however,  are  advanced  only  to  show  the  loose  methods  and  the 
loose  statements  of  the  committee.  It  is  correct  to  state  that  the 
service  intervals  between  the  despatch  of  tubes  is  in  usual  practice 
about  15  seconds,  although  the  tube  is  capable  of  greater  expedi¬ 
tion.  The  actual  speed,  however,  is  dependent  upon  the  celerity 
with  which  mail  is  prepared  for  despatch  by  the  postal  clerks. 
When  the  postal  clerks  are  slow  or  insufficient  in  number  the 
intervals  become  greater.  The  actual  quantity  carried  by  the 
carriers  is  likewise  affected  by  the  speed  with  which  the  clerks 
prepare  the  packages  and  the  number  of  letters  contained  in  such 
packages. 

While,  therefore,  the  tubes  are  capable  of  moving  mail  at  a 
much  higher  rate  of  speed  than  that  stated  by  the  committee, 
and  while  each  carrier  will  contain  more  than  twice  the  weight 
stated,  the  average,  under  service  conditions,  is  probably  approxi¬ 
mately  correct.  This,  however,  is  no  excuse  for  the  bald  state¬ 
ment  of  the  committee  that  the  capacity  is  actually  limited  to  the 
amount  and  the  time  stated. 

On  Sunday,  July  30,  a  test  was  made  in  Boston  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  tubes  would  handle  the  mail  arriving  by  train 
No.  30.  Seventy-seven  carriers  were  despatched  in  34  minutes, 
38  seconds,  the  interval  between  the  despatch  of  the  carriers  thus 
being  27  seconds,  or  about  two  and  one-half  times  as  great  as 
that  shown  by  results  under  actual  service  conditions.  The  re¬ 
sults  thus  obtained  were  put  in  comparison  with  the  time  required 
for  movement  by  autos  of  the  corresponding  mail  arriving  one 
week  later. 

The  result  was  trikingly  unfavorable  to  the  tubes,  the  time  re¬ 
quired  by  the  tubes  being  approximately  twice  that  required  by 


15 


the  auto.  On  Sundays  a  minimum  number  of  postal  clerks  is 
on  duty.  The  demand  for  rapid  transmission  of  the  mail  is 
slight,  there  being  no  local  deliveries  and  the  requirements  as  to 
train  connections  being  such  as  to  permit  leisurely  handling.  It 
is  probable,  therefore,  that  on  the  occasion  of  this  so-called  test 
the  slow  rate  of  speed  of  the  carriers  is  to  be  accounted  for  by 
the  lack  of  the  necessary  clerical  assistants  required  to  prepare 
the  mail  for  handling  by  the  carriers.  But  no  statement  on  this 
point  is  made.  The  inference  is  therefore  invited  that  the  slow 
rate  of  movement,  and  the  consequent  unfavorable  showing  was 
due  to  the  incapacity  of  the  tube,  when  in  fact  the  entire  volume 
of  mail  could  have  been  moved  in  about  one-third  the  time  actu¬ 
ally  consumed  had  the  postal  clerks  promptly  prepared  it  for  the 
carriers. 

The  conditions  were  likewise  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  quick 
movement  of  autos,  there  being  no  street  congestion  whatever 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  test  was  made  on  Sunday.  Thus, 
the  movement  of  the  tubes  was  retarded  and  the  movement  of  the 
autos  was  expedited.  The  report  contains  no  allusion  to  this  dis¬ 
parity  in  conditions. 


VI.  TWO  OF  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  AND  USEFUL 
FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TUBE  SERVICE  WERE 
IGNORED  BY  THE  REPORT. 

The  report  of  the  committee  of  post  office  officials  says : 

“The  principal  advantages  of  pneumatic  tubes  for  the 
transportation  of  mail  are : 

“1.  A  high  rate  of  speed  between  stations  for  limited 
quantities  of  mail. 

“2.  Freedom  from  surface  traffic  congestion.” 


16 


This  is  but  a  partial  statement  of  the  advantages  and  utilities 
of  pneumatic  tube  movement.  It  ignores  and  omits  two  of  the 
most  important  and  useful  functions  of  the  tube  service,  namely: 

a.  Despatch  of  late  mails  which  would  otherwise  not  catch 
specific  trains. 

b.  Expedition  of  local  mail  interchange  by  reason  of  con¬ 
tinuity  of  service  and  more  speedy  movement. 

In  all  large  city  post  offices  mails  in  large  volume  pour  into 
such  offices  in  a  practically  continuous  stream.  It  is  sorted  as 
fast  as  received,  placed  in  pouches  and  at  a  fixed  minute  is 
despatched  by  auto  to  connect  with  specific  outgoing  trains. 
After  the  despatch  of  the  last  auto  destined  for  a  specific  train 
mail  which  should  go  by  that  train  continues  to  arrive.  This  late 
mail  is  forwarded  by  the  tubes,  at  the  rate  of  from  two  thousand 
to  three  thousand  letters  per  minute,  and  the  supplemental 
despatch  continues  for  approximately  ten  minutes  and  in  some 
cases  a  longer  time. 

This  supplemental  service  could  not  under  any  conditions  be 
performed  by  autos.  It  is  made  possible  only  by  the  existence 
of  the  tubes ;  and  the  service  thus  performed  is  of  very  great 
value  to  the  business  community,  inasmuch  as  it  advances  the 
delivery  of  probably  a  hundred  thousand  letters  every  day  by  a 
period  varying  from  a  few  hours  to  twenty-four  hours  or  more. 
Without  this  supplemental  service  a  great  volume  of  important 
letter  mail  would  fail  to  move  by  the  most  desirable  trains,  would 
therefore  miss  important  connections  in  all  sections  of  the  coun¬ 
try  and  be  greatly  retarded  in  its  movement. 

The  extent  and  value  of  the  service  rendered  may  be  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  case  of  the  Transcontinental  Express  which  leaves 
the  Grand  Central  Terminal,  New  York,  at  9:30  each  evening. 
This  train  carries  a  very  heavy  mail  for  all  important  Western 
points,  particularly  those  beyond  Chicago  and  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Mail  carried  by  it  makes  close  connections  and  reaches 
its  destination  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Mail  which  misses 


17 


this  train  is  subject  to  a  delay  of  from  twelve  to  twenty-four 
hours,  according  to  destination.  This  train  also  connects  with 
the  Pacific  steamships,  and  if  mail  destined  for  Asia  or  Australia 
fails  to  connect  with  the  Transcontinental  Express,  a  delay  of 
from  two  to  three  weeks  in  delivery  follows. 

The  last  auto  connecting  with  this  train  leaves  the  Hudson 
Terminal  at  8:40  P.  M.  After  departure  of  the  last  auto  a  sup¬ 
plemental  despatch  by  pneumatic  tube  continues  for  ten  minutes 
additional,  the  last  carrier  leaving  at  8:50.  A  supplemental 
despatch  for  this  particular  train  is  likewise  made  from  all  the 
branch  post  offices  between  the  Hudson  Terminal  and  the  Grand 
Central  Terminal.  After  the  last  auto  has  left  with  mail  for  the 
Transcontinental  Express  from  10,000  to  12,000  letters  for  West¬ 
ern  points  are  deposited  in  the  various  branch  offices  and  for¬ 
warded  by  the  tube. 

This  supplemental  service  is  of  the  utmost  importance  inasmuch 
as  it  avoids  from  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours’  delay  in  the 
delivery  of  from  10,000  to  12,000  letters,  nearly  all  of  which 
comprise  banking  and  business  correspondence  which  it  is  highly 
important  shall  reach  its  destination  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment. 

This  illustration  applies  to  every  important  mail  train  leaving 
the  City  of  New  York.  The  volume  of  supplemental  letter  mail 
thus  expedited  by  the  existence  of  the  pneumatic  tube  equals  or 
exceeds  the  entire  daily  mail  of  cities  of  the  size  of  Chattanooga, 
Tennessee. 

The  abolition  of  the  pneumatic  tube  would  deprive  the  several 
large  cities  of  the  great  benefit  of  this  supplemental  movement, 
which  function  could  not  be  performed  by  automobiles  under  any 
conditions. 

Postmaster  Morgan  has  testified  that  under  conditions  of  snow 
and  ice  it  is  necessary  to  close  the  mails  to  be  despatched  by 
autos  about  one-half  hour  earlier  than  usual.  All  the  mail  reach¬ 
ing  the  Post  office  during  this  half-hour,  if  dependent  upon  autos, 
would  miss  the  next  following  train,  and  be  delayed  often  many 
hours.  It  is  all  despatched  by  the  tubes  and  is  thus  enabled  to 


18 


make  the  closest  and  most  desirable  train  connection.  The  tubes, 
therefore,  in  the  winter  season  prevent  delay  to  a  very  large  part 
of  all  letter  mail  and  render  a  highly  important  service  which 
autos  are  incapable  of  rendering. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  tubes  during 
the  past  winter  a  very  large  portion  of  the  outgoing  mails  would 
have  failed  of  their  proper  train  connections  and  been  subjected 
to  delays  in  reaching  their  destinations  ranging  from  several 
hours  to  a  day  or  more. 

Another  function  of  prime  importance  performed  by  the  tubes, 
and  possible  only  by  their  use,  is  the  expediting  of  local  mail 
deliveries.  More  than  1,000,000  letters  are  deposited  in  the  New 
York  Post  Office  every  day  for  local  delivery.  A  very  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  these  reach  their  destination  within  two  to  four  hours’ 
time.  By  reason  of  the  speedy  movement  afforded  by  the  pneu¬ 
matic  tube  a  letter  may  be  despatched  to  an  address  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles  distant  and  the  sender  may  receive  a  reply  the  same 
day.  The  movement  of  the  entire  volume  of  local  mail  is  greatly 
expedited  in  every  city  having  a  pneumatic  tube.  This  expedition 
of  local  mail  is  an  extraordinary  and  greatly  appreciated  public 
convenience  and  to  abolish  the  conditions  which  make  it  possible 
would  certainly  be  the  cause  of  great  discontent  and  public  in¬ 
dignation. 

The  part  played  by  the  pneumatic  tube  in  local  service  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  movement  of  local  mails  between  widely  sepa¬ 
rated  branch  post  offices  in  New  York.  A  letter  deposited  in 
the  most  northerly  postal  station  served  by  the  tube  in  Manhattan, 
addressed  to  the  most  southerly  station,  will  be  immediately 
despatched  by  the  continuous  service  of  the  tube  and  received  at 
the  southerly  station  in  46  minutes,  and  within  a  few  minutes 
thereafter  will  be  delivered  by  carrier  to  the  addressee.  If  sent 
by  auto  it  would  require  2  hours  and  31  minutes’  transmission 
time,  and  in  addition  might  lie  in  the  Harlem  Post  Office  from 
one  to  two  hours  awaiting  the  despatch  of  an  auto.  The  inter¬ 
vals  between  the  movements  of  autos,  plus  the  time  required  in 
transmission,  would  aggregate  approximately  four  hours  or  more, 


19 


so  that  letters  mailed  at  noon  or  later  would  reach  their  destina¬ 
tion  too  late  for  delivery  the  same  day. 

In  the  case  of  letters  mailed  in  Harlem  and  destined  for 
Brooklyn,  the  time  required  for  auto  delivery  would  be  materially 
greater,  so  that  very  few  letters  in  such  case  would  reach  their 
destination  on  the  day  of  mailing.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  New 
York,  a  population  of  5,600,000  people  has  its  local  mail,  aggre¬ 
gating  over  1,000,000  letters  every  day,  expedited  by  the  use  of 
pneumatic  tubes  from  two  to  four  hours  or  more,  whereby  the 
handling  of  local  letters  has  become  exceedingly  efficient. 

The  pneumatic  tube  is  the  utility  which  alone  makes  this  possi¬ 
ble. 

No  allusion  to  these  highly  important  functions  of  the  pneu¬ 
matic  tube  is  made  by  the  report  of  the  committee  of  postal 
employees. 


VII.  THE  BENEFITS  OF  PNEUMATIC  TUBES  ARE  NOT 
RESTRICTED  TO  THE  CITIES  IN  WHICH  THEY 
ARE  LOCATED,  BUT  ACCRUE  TO  THE  ENTIRE 
COUNTRY. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  entire  volume  of  mails  originates 
in,  or  is  directed  to,  the  great  cities.  The  celerity  of  mail  move¬ 
ment  throughout  the  United  States  is  in  large  degree  dependent 
upon  the  celerity  with  which  the  mails  are  handled  in  those  cities. 
The  conditions  of  modern  business  are  such  that  rapid  movement 
of  mails  is  of  the  first  importance  to  the  merchants  and  business 
men  of  every  locality,  however  remote. 

An  immense  volume  of  daily  business  transactions  is  dependent 
upon  and  regulated  by  the  daily  mail  movement,  and  a  delay  in 
mails  or  their  slow  movement  tends  greatly  to  retard  those  trans¬ 
actions.  So  pressing  is  the  need  for  speedy  communication  that 
the  volume  of  telegraph  transactions  between  country  merchants 


20 


and  city  centers  has  in  recent  years  grown  enormously  and  is 
constantly  increasing.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  that  business 
letters  despatched  from  all  sections  of  the  country  shall  reach 
their  destination  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  and  that  the  reply 
necessary  to  complete  such  transactions  shall  likewise  be  received 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Slow  handling  of  the  mails  in  cities  like  New  York,  Chicago 
and  Boston,  therefore,  not  only  inconveniences  but  interferes 
with  the  necessary  business  operations  of  the  entire  circle  of  cus¬ 
tomers  of  those  cities,  and  every  one  of  those  customers  is  ben¬ 
efited  by  the  use  of  pneumatic  tubes  in  the  centers  where  mail 
congestion  is  greatest,  and  where  slowness  of  mail  movement 
entails  ultimate  delay  of  possibly  many  hours. 

The  abolition  or  curtailment  of  the  tube  service  in  any  of  the 
great  cities,  therefore,  would  materially  decrease  the  expedition 
of  correspondence  between  the  country  districts  and  the  cities, 
and  impose  great  inconvenience  upon  every  section  of  the  country. 

The  same  reasons  apply  with  added  force  to  the  mail  move¬ 
ment  between  the  great  cities.  The  business  transactions  between 
these  cities  are  of  enormous  extent  and  of  a  nature  which  require 
the  utmost  possible  expedition.  To  abolish  or  curtail  the  tube 
service  in  any  of  the  cities  where  it  now  exists  not  only  affects 
the  people  of  a  particular  city,  but  affects  the  business  men  of  all 
the  cities,  by  lengthening  the  time  required  for  the  interchange 
of  correspondence.  It  is  for  that  reason  that  the  City  of  New 
York  contends  earnestly  for  the  retention  of  the  existing  tubes 
in  other  cities,  for  their  removal  will  not  only  inconvenience  the 
people  of  Boston,  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia  and  Chicago,  but  will 
interfere  with  the  prompt  transactions  of  business  between  the 
merchants  of  New  York  and  the  merchants  of  those  cities. 

New  York  further  objects  to  the  specific  recommendations 
made  by  the  Postmaster  General  with  reference  to  the  tube  service 
in  this  city.  The  entire  system  as  it  now  exists  is  essential  prop¬ 
erly  to  meet  the  local  needs  of  this  community.  The  proposal  of 
the  Postmaster  General  makes  possible,  and  even  probable,  the 
discontinuance  of  that  part  of  the  system  north  of  42nd  Street. 


21 


The  section  north  of  42nd  Street  not  only  contains  a  great 
number  of  the  most  important  hotels,  clubs,  etc.,  but  is  also 
thickly  interspersed  with  important  business  establishments,  the 
number  of  which  is  increasing  with  great  rapidity.  The  tubes 
in  that  section  serve  a  population  of  more  than  two  million 
people  and  provide  the  sole  means  whereby  local  letters  can 
promptly  be  interchanged  with  other  sections  of  the  city. 

We  strenuously  object  to  any  contingent  provisions  in  the 
advertisement  for  contracts  which  shall  permit  the  Postmaster 
General  to  discontinue  the  tube  service  in  that  section. 

This  phase  of  the  question  was  considered  by  the  Pneumatic 
Tube  Postal  Commission,  appointed  by  Congress  in  1912.  Sen¬ 
ator  Hoke  Smith  was  Chairman  of  that  Commission,  which 
reported  on  October  24,  1914,  as  to  the  expediency  of  discon¬ 
tinuing  any  part  of  the  existing  system.  The  Smith  Commission 
said : 

“In  most  of  these  cases,  however,  it  is  found  that  such 
sections  are  part  of  a  general  system  of  tubes,  and  that  it 
would  be  inadvisable  to  eliminate  these  parts  and  thereby 
impair  the  usefulness  of  the  zvhole  system 

The  proviso  that  the  Postmaster  General  may  cancel  the  con¬ 
tracts  on  six  months’  notice  is  highly  objectionable.  Such  a  pro¬ 
vision  in  the  contract  would  cripple  the  company  subject  thereto, 
as  it  would  make  it  impossible  for  it  to  provide  funds  to  make 
the  necessary  changes  and  extensions  required  for  the  efficiency 
of  the  service. 

This  Association,  therefore,  contends  that  as  to  the  City  of 
New  York,  the  present  system  should  be  retained  in  its  entirety 
under  a  single  contract  covering  the  period  of  ten  years,  without 
any  provision  for  arbitrary  cancellation. 


VIII.  SUMMARY. 

The  soundness  of  the  Postmaster  General’s  recommendations 
rests  wholly  upon  the  soundness  of  so-called  tests  of  the  relative 


22 


speed  and  utility  of  autos  and  tubes.  His  proposition  is  that 
autos  equal  tubes  in  efficiency  and  will  move  the  mails  with 
equal  celerity  at  a  lesser  cost.  He  assumes  that  this  is  proved 
by  the  so-called  speed  tests. 

To  sustain  that  proposition  would  require  that  the  regular 
movement  of  autos  equal  that  developed  by  the  tests.  We  have 
shown  the  character  of  these  tests, — that  they  afford  no  indica¬ 
tion  of  the  speed  practicable  under  service  conditions,  and  that 
any  conclusions  based  thereon  are  therefore  misleading.  It  has 
been  shown  that  auto  movement  is  subject  to  serious  obstruction 
from  traffic  congestion,  speed  laws,  snow  and  ice,  and  stops 
required  at  intermediate  stations ;  and  that  for  these  reasons  the 
actual  service  speed  is  very  much  less  than  that  assumed,  as  the 
result  of  the  so-called  tests,  to  be  practicable. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  so-called  tests  ignored  all  of  these 
factors  of  obstruction,  and  that  the  results  were  presented  as 
though  they  were  typical  and  fairly  representative  of  the  con¬ 
ditions  to  be  met. 

Such  is  not  the  fact.  It  is  proved  by  the  experience  of  every 
important  post-office  in  the  country  that  the  actual  service  rate 
of  speed  of  autos  is  not  more  than  one-third  that  presented  by 
the  report  of  the  committee  of  postoffice  employees  and  accepted 
by  the  Postmaster  General.  We  have  shown  that  the  most  im¬ 
portant  functions  of  the  pneumatic  tubes  and  their  most  im¬ 
portant  advantages  were  ignored  or  minimized  by  the  committee. 
While  the  auto  mail  service  in  this  city  was  disorganized  and 
inefficient  for  many  days  in  succession  during  last  Winter,  the 
pneumatic  tube  service  continued  without  interruption,  and  by 
reason  of  its  existence  the  entire  volume  of  outgoing  letter  mails 
originating  in  this  city  was  despatched  without  delay.  On  those 
occasions  the  mail  service  would  have  been  absolutely  crippled 
had  it  not  been  for  the  existence  of  the  tubes. 

Every  day  the  tube  service  accomplishes  the  prompt  despatch 
of  probably  100,000  letters  that,  without  such  service,  would  be 
subjected  to  several  hours,  and  on  some  occasions,  days,  of 
delay.  The  tubes  expedite  the  delivery  of  local  letters  aggre- 


23 


gating  1,000,000  daily  by  from  two  to  four  hours  at  certain 
periods  of  the  day,  and  by  twelve  to  fifteen  hours  at  other 
times.  The  service  rendered  by  the  tubes  is  of  a  kind  wholly 
impossible  to  autos  under  any  conditions.  They  serve  a  genuine 
and  important  public  need.  Their  abolition  or  their  restriction 
would  greatly  reduce  the  present  celerity  of  mail  service  and 
would  deprive  the  public  of  a  most  useful  facility. 

In  its  report,  Senator  Hoke  Smith's  Pneumatic  Tube  Postal 
Commission  said : 

“The  pneumatic  tube  service  for  the  transmission  of  mails 
in  the  cities  in  which  such  service  is  now  installed  is  a  val¬ 
uable  adjunct  to  the  mail  transportation  service  for  handling 
first-class,  registered  and  special  delivery  mails,  not  fur¬ 
nished  by  other  means  of  transportation,  and  is  justified  by 
the  advantages  of  availability,  expedition,  security  and  re¬ 
liability.  Its  considerable  withdrawal  or  discontinuance 
would  be  regarded  as  an  inadvisable  curtailment  of  facilities” 

For  all  these  reasons,  this  Association  contends  that  the  tube 
service  should  be  retained  without  reduction  in  each  of  the 
cities  where  it  now  exists,  and  that  it  should  be  extended  as 
rapidly  as  possible  to  other  important  centers  of  mail  traffic. 

The  Merchants’  Association  of  New  York. 

Wm.  Fellowes  Morgan,  President. 


Wm.  Fellowes  Morgan, 
William  C.  Breed, 
William  Hamlin  Childs, 
William  A.  Marble, 
Waldo  FI.  Marshall, 
Lewis  E.  Pierson, 

Henry  R.  Towne, 

Executive  Committee. 


24 


II.  FROM  THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW 
YORK  TO  THE  SPEAKER  OF  THE  HOUSE 
OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  PROTESTING 
AGAINST  ADDITIONAL  MAIL  TRUCKS  IN 
THE  CITY’S  STREETS. 


City  of  New  York 
Office  of  the  Mayor 


Hon.  Champ  Clark, 

Speaker,  House  of  Representatives, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


December  29,  1916. 


Dear  Sir : 

Permit  me  to  direct  your  particular  attention  to  the  Bill  now 
before  the  House  of  Representatives  which,  if  enacted,  will 
deprive  the  City  of  New  York  of  a  large  part  of  its  pneumatic 
tube  service  for  the  transmission  of  mails,  requiring  in  place 
thereof  the  introduction  of  auto  vehicles  driven  through  the  city 
streets.  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you  the  incalculable  harm  that 
must  inevitably  be  worked  by  such  a  measure  in  making  more 
acute  and  dangerous  the  traffic  conditions,  which  already  present 
a  problem  of  alarming  proportions. 

The  present  tube  system  in  this  city  covers  all  that  part  of  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan  lying  south  of  125th  Street ;  a  connection 
between  the  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn  General  Post  Offices ;  an 
extension  from  the  Brooklyn  General  Post  Office  to  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  Station. 

The  Bill  (its  legislative  number  I  do  not  have  at  hand)  had,  I 
believe,  as  its  sponsor  the  Postmaster  General,  and,  having 
already  been  favorably  reported  out  of  committee,  will  shortly 
come  before  the  House  for  consideration.  It  calls  for  the  re¬ 
newal  of  the  tube  service  only  as  to  that  part  of  the  system 
which  is  located  south  of  42nd  Street  and  for  the  line  connecting 
the  two  General  Post  Offices — thus  leaving  unprovided  for  that 
portion  north  of  42nd  Street  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  and  the 
present  extension  from  the  Brooklyn  General  Post  Office  to  the 


25 


Long  Island  Railroad  Station,  at  the  corner  of  Flatbush  and 
Atlantic  Avenues  in  Brooklyn.  It  is  contended  by  the  advocates 
of  the  Bill  that  the  continuance  of  the  complete  tube  service  in 
its  present  form  is  not  warranted  by  the  cost,  and  the  Postmaster 
General  has  endorsed  that  clause  in  the  report  of  a  committee 
of  Post  Office  employees  which  says : 

u*  *  *  *  We  are  recommending  that  a  separate  ad¬ 

vertisement  be  issued  for  the  service  north  of  Grand  Cen¬ 
tral  and  Times  Square  Stations,  but  that  the  contract  be  not 
renewed  unless  a  very  material  reduction  in  cost  is  secured.” 

It  is  further  proposed  that  if  contracts  are  entered  into  they 
shall  be  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  but  subject  to  cancellation  by 
the  Postmaster  General  on  six  months’  notice. 

The  many  reasons  against  the  proposed  abridgement  of  the 
present  system  will  be  presented  to  Congrss  convincingly  and  in 
detail  by  the  leading  commercial  organizations  of  the  city.  I 
shall  not,  therefore,  rehearse  the  argumnts  dealing  with  the  sub-, 
ject  from  a  business  standpoint  which  will  be  presented  by 
others — arguments  in  favor  of  efficiency  and  labor-saving  devices 
with  which  I  am  in  hearty  accord.  But  I  do  wish  to  dwell  par¬ 
ticularly  upon  one  phase  of  the  subject  which  seems  to  me  to 
overshadow  all  others,  vitally  affecting,  as  it  does,  every  inhabi¬ 
tant  of  this  city ;  namely,  the  shortsightedness  and  folly  of  doing 
anything  which  must  inevitably  add  to  the  great  congestion  of 
street  traffic  and  the  dangers  resulting  therefrom. 

Impressed  though  the  casual  observer  must  be  by  the  sight  of 
automobile  traffic  through  the  chief  thoroughfares  of  this  city, 
only  those  who  have  given  the  subject  some  study  have  any  idea 
of  the  size  of  the  problem  now  confronting  the  city  government. 
It  is  a  problem  of  providing  protection  to  human  life  which  is 
daily  endangered  by  the  great  current  of  vehicles  passing 
through  our  streets. 

The  extent  of  this  danger  is  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  fatalities 
and  accidents  which  are  of  daily  and  hourly  occurrence.  Last 
year  659  people  were  killed  and  23,000  injured  in  street  acci¬ 
dents,  281  of  those  killed  being  children.  Thus,  one  person  was 
killed  every  fourteen  hours  and  one  injured  every  twenty-three 
minutes  of  each  day  in  the  year.  Of  those  killed,  105  met  their 
death  from  motor  trucks.  Despite  the  fact  that  motor  trucks 
number  less  than  two  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  total  vehicles, 

.  they  were  chargeable  with  more  than  sixteen  per  cent,  of  the 


26 


fatalities,  a  striking  instance  of  the  dangerous  character  of  that 
class  of  vehicles ,  among  which  are  included  mail  trucks. 

This  annual  toll  of  human  life  in  our  city  streets  has  excited 
public  indignation  and  alarm.  Constant  and  urgent  appeals  are 
made  for  measures  of  protection.  Stringent  traffic  rules  have 
been  adopted  and  650  policemen  have  been  assigned  exclusively 
to  the  regulation  of  traffic.  Every  possible  effort  is  put  forth 
to  restrict  the  speed  of  vehicles  in  the  street,  and  to  secure  such 
regularity  of  movement  as  shall  permit  an  even  and  orderly  flow 
of  traffic.  By  reason,  however,  of  the  enormous  number  of 
vehicles  and  the  great  population  which  daily  use  our  streets,  the 
situation  is  hard  to  cope  with,  and  is  becoming  increasingly  dif¬ 
ficult. 

The  resident  population  of  the  City  of  New  York  is  now  about 
5,600,000.  Careful  estimates  show  that  this  is  increased  daily 
by  a  floating  population  of  over  one  million,  making  the  aggre¬ 
gate  of  over  six  and  one-half  million  people  who  use  our  streets 
daily.  The  number  of  vehicles  in  the  city  is : 


Pleasure  automobiles .  116,065 

Commercial  automobiles .  21,330 

Dealers’  automobiles  .  2,974 


Total  automobiles .  140,369 

Horse-drawn  vehicles  .  73,727 


Grand  total  .  214,096 


To  this  must  be  added  many  thousand  vehicles,  in  large  part 
automobiles,  which  daily  enter  the  city  from  adjacent  territory. 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  automobiles  registered  in  this  city 
in  the  year  1916  was  38,000.  More  than  one-half  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  concentrates  daily  on  the  island  of  Manhattan,  and  passes 
along  its  streets.  There  is  a  corresponding  concentration  of 
vehicles,  and  the  regulation  of  this  enormous  mass  of  traffic  is 
difficult  in  the  extreme. 

So  much  for  the  general  situation.  Let  me  direct  your  special 
attention  to  conditions  in  those  portions  of  the  city  where  the 
present  pneumatic  tube  service  is  endangered  by  the  pending 
Bill,  viz:  (1)  that  covered  by  the  portion  of  the  tube  system 
north  of  42nd  Street  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  and  (2) 
the  area  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  along  the  line  of  the  exten- 


27 


sion  from  the  General  Post  Office  of  that  Borough  to  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  Station  at  Flatbush  and  Atlantic  Avenues. 

The  north  and  south  main  arteries  of  vehicular  traffic  in  Man¬ 
hattan  are  at  present  taxed  to  capacity.  Forty-second  Street 
marks  approximately  the  crest  of  the  traffic  wave.  The  conges¬ 
tion  from  Forty-second  to  Fifty-ninth  Street  is  about  the  same 
as  for  the  corresponding  distance  below  Forty-second  Street. 
From  Fifty-ninth  Street  north  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  the 
main  arteries  for  vehicular  traffic  are  reduced  by  the  obstruction 
of  Central  Park,  which  lies  between  Fifth  and  Eighth  Avenues 
and  extends  from  Fifty-ninth  Street  to  One  Hundred  and  Tenth 
Street,  a  distance  of  two  and  one-half  miles.  Even  above  Central 
Park  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  the  congestion  of  traffic  is 
great. 

A  traffic  tabulation  at  Fifty-ninth  Street,  Broadway  and 
Columbus  Circle  showed  that  there  are  more  vehicles  passing 
this  location  than  at  any  other  point  in  the  Greater  City.  During 
the  ten  hours  from  8:30  A.  M.  to  6:30  P.  M.,  39,200  vehicles 
and  81,990  pedestrians  passed  this  street  intersection. 

Following  is  a  tabulation  of  some  of  the  congested  points  in 
Manhattan  from  Fifty-ninth  Street  north: 

10-hour  period  from  8:30  a.  m.  to  6:30  P.  M. 


Location  Vehicles  Pedestrians 

59th  Street  and  2nd  Avenue .  9,260  50,040 

86th  Street  and  Central  Park  West .  8,310.  .  .  .  12,742 

86th  Street  and  Broadway  . 13,042  23,710 

96th  Street  and  Broadway  . 10,083  29,849 

110th  Street  and  8th  Avenue  . 11,664  12,113 

116th  Street  and  5th  Avenue  .  6,625  22,568 

116th  Street,  7th  and  St.  Nicholas  Avenues.  .11,207  20,386 

125th  Street  and  1st  Avenue  . 10,343  10,427 

125th  Street  and  3rd  Avenue . 10,348  23,659 

125th  Street  and  7th  Avenue  . 10,565  40,119 

145th  Street  and  Lenox  Avenue  .  6,623  14,538 

181st  Street  and  St.  Nicholas  Avenue .  4,521  20,105 

Manhattan  Street  and  Broadway .  8,534  28,942 


Similar  congestion  of  traffic  exists  in  the  business  area  ot 
Brooklyn,  lying  between  the  General  Post  Office  and  the  Long 
Island  Station,  upon  the  route  proposed  to  be  covered  by  mail 
vehicles.  A  traffic  tabulation  made  at  some  of  the  street  inter¬ 
sections  in  this  vicinity  showed  the  following  results : 


28 


10-HOUR  PERIOD  FROM  8:30  A.  M.  TO  6:30  P.  M. 


Location  Vehicles  Pedestrians 

Court  and  Livingston  Streets .  5,418  18,125 

Fulton,  Adams  &  Willoughby  Streets .  6,018  35,504 

Fulton  Street  opposite  Court  Square .  5,422  30,800 

Fulton  and  Smith  Streets  .  5,415  38,677 

Fulton  and  Bond  Streets .  6,550  46,200 

Fulton  Street  and  Flatbush  Avenue .  8,017  30,700 

Flatbush  Avenue  and  Lafayette  Street .  6,264  26,590 

Flatbush  Avenue  and  Fourth  . 13,075  38,155 

Atlantic  and  Fourth  Avenues .  7,006  18,940 

Flatbush  and  Atlantic  Avenues .  6,073  19,315 


The  extent  and  density  of  the  traffic  as  a  whole  is  shown  by 
the  aggregate  figures  resulting  from  the  tabulation  referred  to. 
It  was  found  that  of  the  464  crossings  where  police  officers  are 
stationed  to  regulate  traffic,  an  aggregate  of  about  3,407,069 
vehicles  and  15,545,745  pedestrians  crossed  at  these  intersections 
within  ten  hours. 

The  auto  trucks  used  for  carrying  United  States  mails,  although 
but  243  in  number  at  the  present  time,  are  the  most  difficult  and 
obstructive  factor  in  the  entire  problem.  Having  right  of  way 
over  other  vehicles,  they  constantly  disrupt  and  interfere  with 
the  regularity  of  movement  which  is  the  essence  of  successful 
traffic  regulation.  They  turn  out  to  either  side  as  occasion  may 
permit,  passing  around  and  in  front  of  other  vehicles,  thereby 
impeding  or  stopping  the  movement  of  the  latter.  They  force 
other  vehicles  to  pull  up  short  and  turn  out  of  the  way.  They 
proceed  against  the  current  of  traffic  in  one-way  streets,  and 
often,  if  not  habitually,  exceed  the  speed  limit. 

While  nominally  subject  to  the  local  laws,  the  knowledge  that 
these  mail  trucks  are  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  works 
an  unconscious  but  none  the  less  real  influence  upon  the  traffic 
officers,  who  are  consequently  reluctant  to  interfere  with  the 
apparent  authority  of  the  United  States. 

In  short,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  each  mail  truck  on  the 
streets  of  New  York,  in  its  aspect  as  an  ever  present  menace  to 
life,  limb  and  property,  is  equivalent  to  at  least  ten  ordinary 
commercial  vehicles.  The  adding  of  one  avoidable  mail  truck 
to  traffic  conditions  in  New  York  is  the  creation  of  an  unwar¬ 
rantable  additional  hazard  to  life  and  limb. 

The  people  of  this  city  are  confronted  by  conditions  of  the 


29 


utmost  danger — conditions  which  are  daily  exacting  a  toll  of 
human  life  and  suffering.  City  officials  are  overburdened  with 
the  enormous  and  complex  problem  of  the  amelioration  of  these 
conditions.  The  proposal  of  the  Postmaster  General,  as  con¬ 
tained  in  this  Bill,  is  sure  to  aggravate  the  situation  and  add 
materially  to  the  present  danger. 

On  behalf  of  the  City  of  New  York,  I  protest  against  the 
enactment  of  a  measure  which  adopts  a  policy  of  materialism 
and  economy  where  the  safety  of  men,  women  and  children  is 
concerned — which,  in  spite  of  the  forewarnings  of  those  who 
must  suffer  the  consequences,  openly  weighs  the  saving  of  dollars 
and  cents  against  the  greatly  increased  danger  to  human  life. 

I  therefore  urge  upon  you  that  the  pneumatic  tube  service  as 
it  now  exists  in  this  city  be  continued  and  that  the  Bill  now  pend¬ 
ing  before  Congress  be  amended  to  accomplish  this  result. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

John  Purroy  Mitchel, 

Mayor. 


30 


